I’m a recently graduated (political science and journalism) independent journalist, and in the interest of staying one, I’m thinking about changing this and my other wordpress.com blogs into a network of blogs hosted under one roof.

In this period of both political and journalistic revolution, I would love to retain control of advertising and editing decisions to remain as independent as journalistically possible while still creating great and inciteful content. That way, I can focus on important issues mainstream media either can’t or won’t cover.

The country is in a major state of change and nearly every problem someone could have with our political system is derived from, or made harder to combat, because of money in politics.

Speical interests need their influenced scaled down in order to gain back a democracy meant to represent the people, not special interests. Whether Republican or Democrat, the system isn’t working.

On the lighter side, the Seattle area is ripe with political, civil and culturally unique perspectives worth sharing on a national and worldwide basis.

Seattle loves to be creative and recreational and in the future I would love to put together a general podcast (and/or niche podcasts) relating to different areas of the site, as well as local recreational coverage.

As of now, these are all goals to be met in the hopefully near future. If all worked out, reverse citizens united’s new site location would be something like theporterpost.com/reversecitizensunited.

Until then I will continue to do my best and dedicate all my extra time and passion into covering campaign finance reform from a Seattle area perspective.

I thank every repeat reader and peer who’s dedication is the only reason I could even think about accomplishing such a goal.

The internet is an integral part of our future ability to shape the world into one which the common citizen’s interests are democratically represented, not the interests of corporations and the governments they cater to.

Lessig, featured quite often in the movie, is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and founder of the New Hampshire rebellion. He was accompanied by, and spoke to, author and politician Marianne Williamson.

HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH PHOTOS, WILL RECOVER SOON!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

According to the events website “every dollar of those funds will be used to support the work of the New Hampshire Rebellion to reduce the corrupting influence of money in American politics.

Senator Marko Liias of Washington’s 21st district hosted a public forum in which he spoke out against money in politics and pushed for the reversal of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case.

Hosted by the league of women voters of Snohomish county, the forum focused around Senator Liias and his concerns over campaign financing and how we might fix it. Here is a short audio summary of the forums conversation with the Senator.

Do we want to wait who knows how long for the supreme court or congress to do something about Citizens United? If a total of two-thirds of U.S. state legislatures can agree to a constitutional convention, 34 of 50, then it will be so. Thing is, of the 27 amendments to the constitution enacted thus far in our countries history, none were completed through an article 5 constitutional amendment. Instead, Congress through a two-thirds of state legislature vote proposed the amendments.

Well Illinois just became the third state, behind Vermont and California, to call for the convention. The Rock River Times’ Brandon Reid wrote a more in depth look at this latest step towards a convention.

Published here on pay2play.tv is a good starting point for anyone wanting to know, in general, what public financing of

Lawrence Lessig :Via pay2play.tv ;

campaign means and how it helps get money out of politics. Included on the post are links to specific state measures that are happening across the country and a short video featuring Lawrence Lessig, among others, speaking on the importance of public financing of campaigns.

Wolf-pac.com is a nation wide grass roots movement to reverse the supreme courts 2010 citizens united decision and get money out of politics, restoring our representative democracy.

The founders of wolf-pac realize that our federal government cannot be waited on to do something. Plenty of groups are working on that level, wolf-pac on the other hand is working towards proposing an amendment to the constitution through our state representatives as opposed to the federal government.

Through an article 5 national convention wolf-pac can force the amendment to the constitution through a 2/3 majority of states signing on in the pledge to put our political system through a much needed change. All they want is a chance at a real conversation. One the federal level, you’re still getting a conversation with conflicting interests that don’t fall in the common citizens favor!

I recently sat down with the leader of the wolf-pac’s Washington state division, Jeff Eidsness who was appointed to the position in 2013

RCU: How did you first get interested in wolf-pac and movement?

Eidsness: “I’ve been watching the Young Turks for years now, and have followed Wolf PAC ever since it formed during the initial Occupy movement. I started by giving them $10 or $20 per month, because I didn’t feel like I knew how to participate effectively…”

RCU: how can people start participating effectively?

Eidsness: “… first, people can get involved in the fight for free and fair elections (by calling) their state legislators (http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/). Ask for an appointment to speak (or better yet meet) with their elected officials about ending the corrupting influence for wealthy special interests.”

“You don’t have to be an expert to tell your representatives that you are tired of the undue influence of industry lobbyists. That being said, it never hurts to be informed! If you are interested in learning more about the issue in general, Lawrence Lessig’s book, Republic, Lost How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It is a thorough, if not meticulous rundown of the situation for the layman/non-lawyers among us (people like me!). I also like http://represent.us for good examples of how to communicate with the general public about campaign finance.”

“Once you’ve gotten a lay-of-the-land and evaluate the potential solutions, look around (google: ‘campaign finance reform organizations’?) and find a group with a plan that makes sense to you and then volunteer and/or contribute.”

“As one of many groups of people dealing with different facets of this issue, Wolf PAC is working towards having 34 state legislatures call for a convention of the states to discuss and hopefully propose an amendment(s) that would restore the founder’s idea of democracy, where the government was subject to the will of the people, and the people alone. If people are interested in volunteering, or simply learning more about the ‘in case of emergency’ clause given to us in Article V of the U.S. Constitution, you can visit http://wolf-pac.com or email me at jeff@wolf-pac.com.”

A press release from Aug. 11 via commoncause.org, states that the California Supreme Court has stopped the election of proposition 49, which is really an example of a high court in this country protecting corporate interests at the expense California citizens and their initiative process.

Proposition 49 was a simple advisory measure which was on the ballot b/c of senate bill 1272 also known as the Overturn Citizens United Act. This act would ask the United States Congress to take actions towards stopping unlimited spending in electoral campaigns. This seems to be the acts first problem.

Don’t get me wrong, anything and everything happening towards campaign finance reform is important because, at a minimum it adds to the ever-growing collection of voices speaking up again corporate money in politics which has gained such a loud voice since the passing of citizens united by the Supreme Court in 2010.

Although the court’s order will be reviewed in Sept. and so it could still appear on a future ballot, I wouldn’t hold your breath just yet.

The United States Supreme Court isn’t going to lay down and let us take back our democracy. Our weakest congress in history certainly can’t be expected to do anything either. That is why our best bet may be through our state legislators who still must at least hear their constituents, we need them to listen though!

Is the Article 5 constitutional amendment the way to go? Never say never.

The Democratic candidate for Senate in Georgia is Michelle Nunn, and in December her campaign plan was leaked online for a brief moment before being taken down.

The memo, which was leaked to and reported by the national review mentions there’s a “tremendous financial opportunity” in regards to the Jewish community, but that her support of Israel was crucial in obtaining this demographic.

More to this point, and the overall motivation for this post, is the fact that to reach the recommended $15 to $20 million the memo recommends Nunn spend between 70 and 80 percent of her time raising money from January on through September, where finally the memo suggests fundraising decrease to 50 percent of Nunn’s time.

80 percent might not be too big of a surprise considering today’s climate, but for those who don’t usually pay much attention to politics this should be a staggering number to say the least.

the numbers do seem accurate, in order to raise that much money Nunn will have to devote that much of her time, and that is just unacceptable. If she is having to cater to these donors, she certainly won’t be in a position to cater towards the majority of her constituents who don’t give her millions of dollars in the hopes of helping her get elected.

Of course, if Nunn gets the senate seat, those donors certainly hope Nunn doesn’t forget their interests, and she likely won’t.